abuse
verbUK /əˈbjuːz/ · US /əˈbjuz/
Etymology From Middle English abusen, from Middle French abuser, from Latin abūsus (“misused, using up”), perfect active participle of abūtor (“to use up, misuse, consume”), from ab (“from, away from”) + ūtor (“to use”).
8 senses
- 1To put to a wrong use; to misapply; to use improperly…
- 2To injure; to maltreat; to hurt; to treat with cruelty…
- 3To attack with coarse language; to insult; to revile…
- 4To imbibe a drug for a purpose other than it was…
- 5To violate; defile; to rape; (reflexive) to masturbate.
- 6Misrepresent; adulterate.
- 7To deceive; to trick; to impose on; misuse the confidence of.
- 8Disuse.
1
To put to a wrong use; to misapply; to use improperly; to use for a wrong purpose or end; to pervert
- He abused his authority.
- This principle (if we may so abuse the word) shot rapidly into popularity1856, James Anthony Froude, History of England from the fall of Wolsey to the defeat of the Spanish Armada, volume 1, published 1870, page 353:
2
To injure; to maltreat; to hurt; to treat with cruelty, especially repeatedly.
- Blows with the fist should be given on the back of the woman, which she is sitting on the lap of the man, and she should give blows in return, abusing the man as if she were angry, and making the cooing and the weeping sounds.1883, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, Karma Sutra:
- And I would have things to say to this God at the judgement, storming at him, as Job stormed with the eloquence of the abused heart.a. 1990, R. S. Thomas, At It:
1 more example
- The trailer for the documentary about killer Luka Magnotta doesn’t show anything graphic, but it contains clips of him handling kittens. The trailer goes on to explain that Magnotta gruesomely abuses these kittens.2020 February 6, Alicia Lee, “Netflix is finally letting you stop previews from automatically playing. Here’s how to do it”, in CNN Business, archived from the original on 20 Dec 2025:
3
To attack with coarse language; to insult; to revile; malign; to speak in an offensive manner to or about someone; to disparage.
- The […] tellers of news abused the general.1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XIV, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
- But ever and always curse him and abuse him.1904, W. B. Yeats, The King's Threshold:
2 more examples
- So we were angered by this and we could not tolerate this one because prophet Mohammed has been abused so many times in this country. Awolowo abused him sometimes ago saying that he was more successful and popular that Mohammed and Jesus.1991, Yakubu Yahaya, quoted in: 2001, Toyin Falola, Violence in Nigeria: The Crisis of Religious Politics and Secular Ideologies, p. 199
- However, shortages have seen customers yelling at employees, and abusing staff members as they work frantically to keep up with demand.2020 March 17, Freya Noble, “'Our team are here to help, not hurt': Woolworths urge customers not to abuse staff”, in Nine News, archived from the original on 16 Apr 2023:
4
To imbibe a drug for a purpose other than it was intended; to intentionally take more of a drug than was prescribed for recreational reasons; to take illegal drugs habitually.
5
Archaic To violate; defile; to rape; (reflexive) to masturbate.
- Like Angels life was then mens happy cace; But later ages pride, like corn-fed ſteed, Abuſd her plenty, and fat ſwolne encreace To all licentious luſt, and gan exceed1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 16, page 276:
- This the Holy Scripture teaches, as expreſly as may be; Neither Fornicators, ſays St. Paul, nor Adulterers, nor the Abominable, ſhall inherit the Kingdom of God; cautioning alſo at the ſame time, that we don’t abuſe our ſelves, nor flatter our ſelves in this Reſpect.1722, Onania; or, The Heinous Sin of Self-Pollution, 6th edition, London, retrieved 28 Feb 2022, page 26:
1 more example
- Through “wantonness,” or just by being “idle and alone,” or by the instruction of intimates, the young learn to abuse themselves without learning how wrong and dangerous it is.2003, Thomas W. Laqueur, Solitary Sex: A Cultural History of Masturbation, New York: Zone Books, →ISBN, retrieved 28 Feb 2022, page 14:
6
Obsolete Misrepresent; adulterate.
- Believe me, sir, he hath been abused, grossly abused to you.1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling:
7
Obsolete To deceive; to trick; to impose on; misuse the confidence of.
- 1651-2, Jeremy Taylor, "Sermon VI, The House of Feasting; or, The Epicures Measures", in The works of Jeremy Taylor, Volume 1, page 283 (1831), edited by Thomas Smart Hughes When Cyrus had espied Astyages and his fellows coming drunk from a banquet loaden with variety of follies and filthiness, their legs failing them, their eyes red and staring, cozened with a moist cloud and abused by a double object